Format Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Ailing Mac? Try Drive Genius 3

by Ilene Hoffman (May 24th, 2013)

When your Mac starts acting unreliably your first line of defense is Apple's Disk Utility, but that solves a small number of problems, such as permissions and disk verification and repair. A good second line of defense is Drive Genius 3 for Mac from Prosoft Engineering. Drive Genius offers repair ...

TUAW's Daily Mac App: HandBrake

by Samuel Gibbs (Jul 7th, 2011)

Open-source software is a beautiful thing. It's free, community driven, and more often than not, incredibly useful. HandBrake, one of the best video converters around, is a classic example of great open-source software. The Swiss army knife of video converters and a perennial TUAW favorite, ...

Tip: iBooks can open EPUB books directly

by Mike Schramm (Apr 8th, 2011)

The latest version of iBooks (or possibly one of the previous versions -- we're not sure when this change went in) includes a helpful little update in it: iBooks now recognizes EPUB files, which means it can open those files directly from anywhere on your iPhone, from your email to a DropBox ...

Microsoft joins Apple in stance against Blu-ray

by Mike Schramm (Sep 22nd, 2010)

Apple has a surprising ally in its campaign of apathy against Sony's Blu-ray disc format. Microsoft, of all companies, has also stepped out with a passive-aggressive stance against the standard, as UK head of Xbox gaming head Steven McGill says that "Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format." He ...

Mac 101: 7 tips for Data Privacy Day 2009

by Robert Palmer (Jan 28th, 2009)

Today is Data Privacy Day, a global initiative to highlight information security rights and practices, especially among teens, professionals, corporations, and the government. As part of the celebration, TUAW (along with our sister blog Download Squad) has seven good ideas for you about how to keep ...

No Blu-ray on Macs... and no one cares

by Mike Schramm (Oct 2nd, 2008)

Danny Gorog at APC Magazine has written a really nice analysis of something that's rather strange when you think about it -- why aren't there any high definition DVD drives on Macs yet? It has been asked for by a few folks, but by and large, Apple has pretty much ignored the whole high definition ...

Rumor: Apple might support both Blu-ray and HD-DVD in Leopard

by David Chartier (Oct 18th, 2006)

In another move by a major player to negate this ridiculous next-gen DVD format war, Think Secret is reporting they have evidence that Apple might very well support both Blu-ray and HD-DVD with their upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard release. This is an interesting (and wholly welcomed) move from Apple ...

My theory on why Apple isn't including Blu-ray drives in Macs

by David Chartier (Sep 24th, 2006)

Engadget HD linked a theory from Robert X. Cringely as to why Apple hasn't included Blu-ray drives in any of their Macs yet (it isn't even an option in the Mac Pro), despite being on the board of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Mr. Cringely more or less links the lack of Blu-ray in Macs to movies and ...

VisualHub - The universal video converter

by David Chartier (Jun 7th, 2006)

VisualHub is a feature-packed and 'universal' video converter for Mac OS X from the maker of iSquint. From its website: "VisualHub bridges the gap between numerous complicated video formatting standards, and people that just want to get the job done - just what you would expect from the Mac." It ...

Flip4Mac begins beta testing Universal Binary WMV QuickTime components

by David Chartier (Jun 5th, 2006)

For Intel Mac users who either love or hate WMV but have to deal with it one way or another, Flip4Mac has just begun beta testing the long-awaited Universal Binary version of their WMV QuickTime components. Announced in their forums today, it is more or less an invite-yourself program, as I had to ...

No, AAC isn't 'Apple's format', but

by David Chartier (May 12th, 2006)

John Gruber pointed to a post at the Ars Technica journals by Ken Fisher (their editor-in-chief) in which he reminds everyone that AAC isn't 'Apple's format'. This is in response to all the recent buzz and speculation of Sony's announcement of AAC support; it appears that many took this as some sort ...